The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority

  • NSIA, partners launch $500m renewable energy fund

    NSIA, partners launch $500m renewable energy fund

    The Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL), the International Solar Alliance (ISA), and Africa50 have unveiled a $500 million Distributed Renewable Energy (DRE) Nigeria Fund to develop and finance decentralised energy projects across the country.

    NSIA, SEforALL, and Africa50 formalised the initiative by signing the Heads of Terms agreement at the SEforALL Global Forum in Barbados.

    The fund aims to attract private sector capital and provide tailored financial instruments to address key challenges, including currency volatility, tariff structures, and the limited availability of local currency financing.

    Investment focus areas include mini-grids, solar home systems, commercial and industrial (C&I) power solutions, embedded generation projects, and energy storage technologies.

    Read Also: Rent crisis: Will Lagos follow Enugu footprints?

    The goal is to enhance energy access for Nigerian households and businesses while ensuring cost efficiency and reliability.

    A key component of the initiative is the mobilization of local currency funding from institutional investors such as pension funds and insurance companies.

    The DRE Nigeria Fund is designed to serve as a scalable model for similar country-specific funds across Africa under the broader DRE Africa Platform.

    Damilola Ogunbiyi, CEO and Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All, described the fund as “a critical step in addressing Africa’s energy access challenges.” She noted that the initiative would “attract long-term capital to scale decentralized energy solutions and move Nigeria closer to universal energy access.

    NSIA Managing Director and CEO, Aminu Umar-Sadiq, said “the fund provides a model for attracting global investment into Nigeria’s energy sector.” He noted its potential to drive industrial development and expand energy access while contributing to sustainable infrastructure and economic transformation.

    The fund is expected to benefit from catalytic capital from the International Solar Alliance, supported by the recently launched Africa Solar Facility. Ashish Khanna, Director General-Elect of ISA, stated that “mobilizing private investment and leveraging grants and equity financing are crucial to securing Africa’s energy future.”

    He pointed out that Africa currently attracts only 3 percent of global solar investments and stressed the importance of starting with Nigeria before scaling across the continent.

    Africa50 CEO, Alain Ebobisse, described the partnership as “a transformative step in accelerating renewable energy investments across Africa.” He stated that “the collaboration is structured to unlock financing instruments capable of funding large-scale projects and bridging the continent’s energy access gap.”

    The DRE Nigeria Fund’s core strategy revolves around mobilizing institutional capital, fostering partnerships with the Nigerian government and private sector, and scaling renewable energy investments to support economic growth.

  • NSIA has created 245,000 jobs since inception, says MD

    NSIA has created 245,000 jobs since inception, says MD

    The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), Aminu Umar-Sadiq, says 245,000 direct jobs have been created by the Agency across sectors since its inception 12 years ago.

    Umar-Sadiq said this when the House of Representatives Committee on Finance visited the NSIA on oversight.

    He said the Authority also supported over 236,000 farmers through its agriculture investments.

    Umar-Sadiq said they had also served as project managers for the development of a 10MW solar project in Kano State, creating over 500 direct and indirect jobs on the project, as well as delivered three motorway projects with a total length of 515.4km.

    Read Also: VeryDarkMan meets Don Jazzy after N100m donation to his NGO

    He said they successfully completed three hospital projects with over 282,100 unique patients attended to and 150,000 chemotherapy sessions delivered.

    He further added that NSIA has catalysed consequential projects with far reaching implications across pivotal sectors including technology.

    He also said the Authority has implemented the NSIA Prize for Innovation Programme (NPI) to enable the development of the technology eco-system and reposition Nigerian tech talents for global relevance.

    “Following the successful operationalisation of its three demonstration projects: NSIA-LUTH Cancer Centre (NLCC), NSIA-Umuahia Diagnostic Centre (NUDC) and NSIA – Kano Diagnostic Centre (NKDC), NSIA has commenced the healthcare expansion programme which aims to establish 23 modern medical diagnostic centers, 3 additional oncology centers and 7 catheterisation laboratories across the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria. The first phase of the programme is currently under way with the construction of ten centres,” he said.

    He further added that NSIA, in collaboration with Guarantco, established the Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company in 2016 to enhance the credit quality of debt instruments issued to finance credit worthy infrastructure assets in Nigeria.

    He said Infracredit has so far achieved financial closure of 21 infrastructure projects and guaranteed a total debt size of 218bn.

    “Also, through its stake in Family Homes Fund, NSIA has significantly improved the quality of life of Nigerians from low-income families through the development of 500,000 affordable homes to low-income families in Nigeria. 

    “Additionally, NSIA continues to demonstrate its commitment to positive socio-economic outcomes through key platforms like the Nigerian Mortgage Refinance Company (NMRC), through which it improves the liquidity of the mortgage market to further promote affordable housing in Nigeria.

    “To revalidate its commitment to climate adaptive solutions, NSIA set up an innovative USD500m Renewable Investment Platform for Limitless Energy (RIPLE) to expand energy access, enhance energy efficiency and ensure energy security in Nigeria. RIPLE’s pilot initiative involves setting up a generation and distribution system to meet 70MW of unsuppressed energy demands in an area covering 9,000 connections.  

    “Through these interventions across key sectors, NSIA’s continues to enhance prevailing socio-economic reality and create value for the current and future generations of Nigerians,” he said.

    Deputy Chairman of the House Committee on Finance, Saidu Musa Abdullahi said the visit was the first by his committee to the agency.

    He said they were only interested in fiscal prudence.

    He said “year in, year out, we have always had huge deficits which made financing major projects in the country difficult. Nigeria has greater potential than what is going on in the country today and I hope we can close the gap. We have what it takes as a country and we cannot continue like this.”

    He stressed the need for the agency to increase its investment in the agricultural sector and grow the sugar cane value chain which he said is currently generating over 40 billion dollars annually for Brazil.

    He lamented that the sugar factories that were privatised have not yielded the dividend required.

    Abdullahi said there was the need for the Nigerian government to take back the sugar factories that were privatised.

    He said that the Niger state government was planning a 250 hectare of farmland for sugar which he said will generate about one billion dollars for the state.

  • NSIA reports N1.18tr income in 2023

    NSIA reports N1.18tr income in 2023

    The Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) has released its 2023 financial results. The authority’s total operating income surged to N1.18 trillion, reflecting a significant increase of 1,079 percent compared to the previous year.

    This performance is attributed to a combination of factors, including: solid returns from the equities and fixed-income portfolios, coupled with successful infrastructure investments. In addition, the NSIA’s emphasis on a well-diversified portfolio and risk management practices contributed significantly to the positive results.

    While not core to the investment strategy, foreign exchange fluctuations played a role in boosting income, with the NSIA generating N1.02 trillion from foreign exchange gains.

    The NSIA has achieved 11 consecutive years of positive earnings, with a cumulative annual growth rate of 117.3 percent. Net assets have also witnessed a significant rise, reaching N2.22 trillion by December 2023, that is 119 percent increase from the previous year N1.02 trillion.

    Read Also: Five Nigerian meals for Easter vacation

    The report acknowledged the challenging global and local economic landscapes in 2023. Factors such as the redesign of the Naira, fuel subsidy removal, currency devaluation, and high inflation presented significant hurdles. However, NSIA’s strategic approach and robust risk management framework enabled the authority to not only weather these challenges but also deliver exceptional results.

    Commenting on the results, NSIA’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Aminu Umar-Sadiq, highlighted the organization’s unwavering commitment to its mandate. He emphasized NSIA’s focus on: “creating positive socio-economic outcomes through critical infrastructure investments; expanding impact across vital sectors through strategic collaborations; and integrating environmental responsibility into its investment decisions.”

    The report acknowledged the dynamic nature of the 2024 economic landscape, with factors like geopolitical tensions, potential supply chain disruptions, and ongoing deglobalization posing potential challenges. NSIA emphasized the importance of strategic planning, effective risk management, and adaptability in navigating these complexities.

    Key highlights from the NSIA report showed that in infrastructure investments, the authority completed key national strategic road projects, including the Second Niger Bridge and significant progress on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway. Launched the NSIA Advanced Medical Service Ltd (MedServe) and its Healthcare Expansion Programme.

    It created a US$500 million Renewables Investment Platform for Limitless Energy (RIPLE) and collaboration with various entities for climate change initiatives. Working in collaboration with Vitol, it established Carbon Vista, for investments in carbon reduction and avoidance projects.

    It collaborated with InfraCredit to develop an innovative construction finance warehouse facility to unlock long-term domestic capital to finance greenfield climate infrastructure projects in Nigeria.  Launched a US$15 million Joint Preparatory Facility with Afreximbank.

     The authority commenced the development of a 10,000-seater Arena in collaboration with Metrowave Sports and Infrastructure Limited (MSIL), providing a dedicated venue for sporting events, concerts, conferences, exhibitions, and other events.

     Having successfully executed the inaugural NSIA Prize for Innovation (NPI) program, a five-year initiative empowering early-stage Nigerian startups with innovative solutions, NSIA is now exploring strategic partnerships to scale the program in 2024 (NPI 2.0). 

     The Future Generations Fund (FGF) of the office the Sovereign Wealth Fund managed by the NSIA achieved its highest annual return since inception due to strategic asset allocation and methodical market exposure.

    Stabilisation Fund (SF) outperformed its benchmark by 700 basis points, generating a return of 10.54 percent